The Faculty of Unani Medicine, Aligarh Muslim University, India

The Unani medical tradition is one of the oldest in the world. It was ushered into India by the Muslims. Understandably, it flourished during the Mughal period when the Tabibs (physicians) included a number of Ayurvedic drugs in this system. The basic principle of this medical culture is based on the temperamental and humour theory. According to Unani philosophy, disturbances in the humour of the body may generate considerable imbalance in the fluid and temperature (hararat), in turn affecting parts of the body, and finally resulting in the appearance of the symptoms of illness. The concepts of safra (bile), balgham (phlegm) and khoon (blood) are almost the same as that of mkhris, badkan and khrag respectively, of the Tibetan medical tradition, though in Tibetan medicine the three humours are known as rlung (wind), mkhris pa (bile) and bad kan (phlegm), whereas khrag (blood) is mentioned only at times as the fourth principle, but is not given much importance. The concept of sauda (black bile) of the Unani medical system is another concept probably not existing in the Tibetan tradition. The concept of rlung (wind) is very much like that of reah (wind) in Unani.

According to Tibetan theory, all matter is comprised of five basic elements - earth, water, fire, wind, and space. The Unani system counts four only - mitti (earth), pani (water), aag (fire) and hawa (wind); it does not include the concept of space. According to Unani medicine, these factors confirm the temperament (mizaj) of a person as integral part of the complete organism. The various physiological functions, digestion, blood circulation, respiration, reproduction, excretion and others are governed by these elements. These may be disturbed and consequently produce ill effects by generating either more or less heat (energy), thereby affecting either or both the temperature and the fluid of the body.

The diagnostic parameters of the Unani medical tradition are the rate, strength, width and depth of the pulse, and the colour, odour, amount and deposits in the urine sample. These parameters are very similar to the basic principles of diagnosis in Tibetan medicine. But the method of pulse reading differs slightly. In the Unani system, the pulse is felt only of the right hand compared to both hands in the Tibetan system. The symptoms and history are usually investigated after the pulse reading, followed by the confirmation of the location, severity and aetiology of the illness.

After confirming the causes of the disease, the physician begins the treatment by recommending those drugs (advia) which match the temperament of the patient. The imbalance is also corrected by prescribing a diet which re-balances the elements. It is important to note here that each and every Unani drug has it’s own mizaj or temperament, known as mizaj-e-advia. The medicines are derived from plants, animals and minerals, and used singly or in combination. The Tibetan pharmacopoeia, however, uses only compound preparations of plants, animals and minerals in various combinations.

The pharmacy of both the medical traditions appears to be the same, and the processes for making the pills, syrups, ashes, decoctions and distillates etc., are similar. The concept of detoxification of poisonous substances exists in both traditions, and the method of detoxification is almost similar except that cow urine is avoided in Unani medicine.

The use of precious metals and stones (gold, silver, gems and pearls) is common in both medical systems. Some of the herbs, such as saffron, fennel, caraway, Terminalia chebula, Terminalia bellerica, Amla etc., are used in both traditions, but the names are invariably different. This comparison throws up new topics for debate regarding the origin of these two medical systems.

Single crude drugs, used in Unani medicine, are termed mufrid; the plural is mufridat. In India, many books have been written about single drugs, first in the Persian and later in the Urdu languages. During the Mughal Empire, when Persian was the court language, many Arabic manuscripts were translated into Persian, and when Persian lost its popularity in India, these books were thereafter translated into Urdu, without any significant changes. Between the 18th and 20th century, many books were also written directly in Urdu, and this process still continues. Some important books on Unani medicine that were written in India include Taleef Sharifi by Hakim Mohamed Sharif (18th century), Makhzanul Advia by Hakim Mohamed Hasan (18th century), and Khazinatul Advia by Hakim Najmul Ghani (19th century). These works comprise the local names of medicinal substances that grow in Greece, Arabia, Persia and India. They also mention the substitutes for original Greek-Arabic drugs that grow in India.

Physicians also discarded the use of certain drugs, because some of them were not available in Indian markets. The simultaneous use of local Arabic and Persian names also lead to confusion. Consequently, some of the drugs that actually have no relation to the original medical substances, are wrongly sold in the markets. Further confusion was created by the fact that India is and always will be a multi-lingual sub-continent; different names of  the same plant coexisted side by side to the original name for various plants.

Descriptions of drugs in Unani literature are very primitive, even in those written in this century. It is very difficult to identify these ingredients based only on such descriptions. What are the reasons? Possibly, physicians did not take advantage of the growing knowledge of botanical, zoological and chemical sciences. Generally, books of mufridat comprise simple drug descriptions (shanakht), usage (khwas), temperament (mizaj) and dosage (miqdar). Substitutes (badal) are only mentioned for some drugs and the dosage norms are fragmentary. One very important aspect - the editing of Unani books - was not taken into consideration by the Tabibs; hence updated information is not available. While reading works on Unani, a gap between the centuries becomes very apparent.

 Moreover, Tabibs and philosophers did not only discontinue the survey work, that had been accomplished by many ancient Tabibs, such as Discarides and Ibn-e-Baitar, but they also failed to train the plant collectors. Apparently they did not take any interest in reforming the procedures for the procurement of medicinal plants; this business was left for the Attar (Dispenser) only.

Today’s medicinal herb dealers have discovered the “scientific” methods of creating adulterations in such a high quality that without microscopic and chemical analysis it is very difficult to trace these adulterations. Some examples of present day adulterations are: staining wheat flower, first with red and then with blue ink and selling it as ergot powder; coating the root of other species of Smilax with “geru” (red-coloured clay) to produce an appearance of the original Sarsaparilla; coating black pepper with white chalk and sell it as white pepper; mixing exhausted ginger with good-quality ginger; the same with saffron; mixing stalk powder of clove with clove powder; mixing mineral oil with original clove oil, just to mention a few examples.

In today’s markets, the ingredients of Unani medicines are available in the form of dried leaves, pieces of stem and roots, seeds, broken dry flowers and powders. Obviously, it is impossible to identify these ingredients taxonomically. Tabibs identify these substances on the basis of organoleptic characters (that is appearance, odour, taste and smell), descriptions mentioned in the Unani books, through Qayas-wa Tajurba (i.e. inductive reasoning and actual experimentation), and through their traditional knowledge, transmitted to them by their teachers.

Keeping in view the above facts, the author feels that a comprehensive commentary in the margin of the Unani books is necessary, especially for the identification of ingredients, in order to prevent further deterioration of the authenticity and quality of Unani mufrid adviat. Taxonomic descriptions of plants, macro- and microscopic characters of the substances might also be added, at least for those drugs that have already been analysed by modern pharmacognosts. Information regarding the active principles, wherever available, would be an important addition to the work. The basic concepts should be left as they are, but certain suggestions regarding the doses and dosage forms (like powder, pills, syrups, etc.) after consulting the Tabibs would be beneficial.

It is obvious that preparing such an extensive commentary is time-consuming and requires team work, but such work would be  relatively easy for those pharmacognosts who can read the actual texts and who have considerable exposure to the Unani medical tradition.

Work of this kind has already been initiated at the Department of Ilmul-Advia, Faculty of Unani Medicine, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh. This institution, by the way, is also known as Ajmal Khan Tibbiya College, named after the famous Unani physician and great freedom fighter during the time of Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi. Previously this Department belonged to the Faculty of Medicine and was known as ‘Department of Unani Tib’ (Dept. of Medical Science). In 1975, it became an independent faculty comprising seven Departments: Ilmul Advia (Pharmacology), Kulliyat (Basic Principles of Unani Medicine); Moalijat (Medicine), Jarahiyat (Surgery), Hifzan Sehat (Hygiene), Imraz Nzwan and Atfal (Gynaecology and Paediatrics). The Faculty trains students to acquire Bachelor and Masters degrees in Unani Medicine and Surgery (BUMS/MD/MS). All the Departments receive a grant from the UGC (University Grants Commission, Government of India). Unfortunately, the pace of research work is slow due to the engagement of teachers in teaching and other activities of the University as well as scarcity of funds.
 
 

S. H. Afaq (born 1948), M.Sc., Ph.D. in Pharmacognosy, has specialised in the field of cultivation of medicinal plants and ethno-botany. From August 1996 to July 1997, he was Regional Pharmacognosy Consultant of the European Commission Project at the National Institute of Traditional Medicine in Thimpu, Bhutan. He authored two books and 65 research papers. Apart from his research and teaching work at the Faculty of Unani Medicine in Aligarh, he also provides consulting services to companies on the manufacturing of herbal medicines, cultivation of medicinal plants, formulations, quality control, standardisation and good manufacturing practice as per international regulations.

S.H. Afaq
Department of Ilmul Advia
Faculty of Unani Medicine
Aligarh Muslim University
Aligarh 202002, India
phone (office): 0571-401007
phone (res.): 0571-405206